Tenant Turner is named region’s next best start-up!

Tenant Turner was named the Region’s Next Best Start-Up by a panel of judges at the i.e.* Start-Up Competition finale. Tenant Turner was awarded $10,000 to invest in it’s idea of helping rental property owners and managers find better tenants faster. The start-up is evolving the tenant acquisition, screening, and management processes for independent property owners and managers.

Another finalist, CUSH, won the $2,500 People’s Choice Award via on-site audience vote. CUSH intends to continue developing a wheelchair cushion using pressure alleviating technology in an innovative design to distribute weight and help prevent pressure ulcers.Tonight’s event marks the finale of the Chamber’s i.e.* Entrepreneurial Trilogy, a series of programming designed to support entrepreneurial activity in the Richmond Region.
Each of the Start-Up Competition’s 16 finalist teams had the opportunity to pitch concepts and field questions before a panel of eight local judges and a live audience at Richmond CenterStage.

Jerry Fox, Managing Partner at the accounting firm Cherry Bekaert LLP, presented Tenant Turner with a check for $10,000. Tenant Turner also will receive six months of free office space at New Richmond Ventures, $3,500 worth of IT strategy and implementation from Imagine Simplicity, and ongoing mentoring from Lighthouse Labs. Local co-working space 804RVA is donating six months worth of community co-working memberships to all finalists.

“The caliber of this year’s finalists is astounding. It is exciting to see that RVA is becoming a place where creative people can turn their innovative ideas into flourishing businesses, thanks to remarkable support from the region’s entrepreneurial and corporate communities,” said Chrystal Neal, Director of Creativity and Innovation at the Greater Richmond Chamber. “Our innovative culture here in RVA is gaining national attention as we put our stake in the ground as a thriving start-up hub.”

The Entrepreneurial Trilogy was made possible by a network of local corporate and community partners, led by global packaging company MWV, which is headquartered in Richmond.

“In the Richmond business community, there is no shortage of great ideas,” said Donna Owens Cox, Vice President for Global Communications, MWV. “MWV is proud once again to sponsor the Greater Richmond Chamber’s third annual i.e. Start-Up Competition to provide entrepreneurs with the capital, the coaching and the community support they need to bring these innovations to the marketplace.”

“Congratulations to Tenant Turner, and all of our finalists. We hope each and every contestant will find success based on the exposure and networking provided during the Entrepreneurial Trilogy,” said Kim Scheeler, President and CEO, Greater Richmond Chamber.

About the Competition and i.e.*
The third annual i.e.* Start-Up Competition was free to enter and required contestants to be either in business for less than one year or not yet be licensed. The winner must establish headquarters within the Richmond Region. The finalists were selected in two ways. A group of local successful entrepreneurs from Lighthouse Lab Mentors and the 804RVA Mentor Network selected five contestants from the overall pool based on the following criteria:

Evaluation of the viability of the business to be successful

Evaluation of the innovative nature of the business

Originality of the product or service in the market

The remainder of the finalists was selected by online public vote March 25 – 27 on ie-rva.org, resulting in 16 finalists.

The first of its kind in Central Virginia, the i.e.* Start-Up Competition is produced by the Greater Richmond Chamber’s i.e.* initiative, which was launched in June 2011 to highlight the Richmond Region’s talented workforce, make cross-industry connections and encourage new innovation and growth.

About i.e.* ideas evolving

We seek out the people working passionately to change the world, and invite them to share that passion for the greater good. We shine a spotlight on known and unknown talent in our region in order to bolster support for their work while showing the world what a unique place Richmond is.